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New York, August 11, 2011--Authorities should cease the residential surveillance of writer Ran Yunfei and allow him to communicate freely following his release from jail this week, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Ran has been forbidden from speaking publicly, according to The Associated Press.

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The Chinese security apparatus is kidnapping government critics,
unchallenged by the domestic press. Writer Yang Hengjun, who went missing in
March and has since reappeared, criticized the Chinese press this week for
failing to report on his enforced disappearance. While state media are accusing
the missing artist and social critic Ai Weiwei of plagiarism and being
"erratic," according to UK-based The
Economist, they are not questioning his apparent, unlawful detention.

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New York, April 4,
2011--The disappearance of internationally renowned artist and commentator
Ai Weiwei is a disturbing indicator of the extent of the government's onslaught
against its critics, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Jiang Yu, today
denied having heard of Sydney-based Chinese author and blogger Yang Hengjun,
according to The Associated Press. We reported yesterday that Yang was missing,
presumed to be the latest high-profile writer to fall victim to the
government's aggressive roundup of critics who might respond to online calls
for a Chinese "Jasmine
revolution." Concern for Yang deepened today, after reports emerged that he
had called his sister in Guangzhou to say he had been detained. "Having a long
chat with old friends" was the pre-arranged phrase they used, AP reported.

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New York, March 28,
2011--Police indicted one online writer on anti-state charges in Sichuan
today and another disappeared in Guangzhou on Sunday, according to
international news reports. Both cases appear part of the Chinese Communist
Party's strenuous efforts to suppress their critics and pre-empt a "Jasmine Revolution"
in China, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.